Senior Producer Ali McBride was one of the four returners on the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme at Edinburgh TV Festival. She recently wrote to Media Parents to say  ”I’m back in the thick of it and working again I think I’ll be fine” – woohoo!  Here are Ali’s thoughts about going back to work when she was on maternity, and then on the Festival experience.

Ali McBride, second from left, with Harriet Wallace, Kirsty Smith and Sidra Khan, media parents delegates waiting for Kevin Spacey's MacTaggart Speech at GEITF.

Bewildered, daunted, excited, pressured and engaged are all emotions I tend to feel after receiving notes from a commissioner about a new programme I’ve cut. This time those emotions are associated with going back to work after having my daughter Matilda in October 2012, writes Ali McBride.

Life before Matilda was your stock ‘work hard, play hard’ TV affair. I loved it. For 20 years, I worked across television and radio making stuff I’m proud of and achieving one of my goals of becoming a Series Producer. Fact Ent is my first love and the genre I want to return to and flourish in. I have just finished a 4 week stint as an Edit Producer which has left me with a plethora of mixed emotions about the work I want to do, am capable of doing, and know I can deliver as a new mum.

I do believe parents can be successful Series Producers with focus and without having to sell their souls to TV in the process. I always managed to have a life before I had Matilda and this made me a better director.  I know with a little push and belief I can do the same as an SP and mum.

The Back to Work Scheme gave Ali McBride the push she needed, she is now back in the thick of it, working in TV. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6744/ali-mcbride

The Edinburgh TV Festival was great. It was like being immersed into an insane TV bubble of ideas and discussion, surrounded by the great and the good of the industry who were all buzzing from the large amounts of free flowing coffee supplied to keep the whole juggernaut going.

After the initial shock of the size of the place, and once you’ve got a couple of sessions under your belt, you gain the confidence to do what was once very simple… talk to people. Being with Media Parents was a great conversation starter and everybody I spoke to was hugely supportive of the initiative. STV, Nine Lives, Tern Television, Raise The Roof and the BBC were all happy to discuss the realities of flexibly working and how it could work in production. Refreshingly all of them thought it could work.

Before going to the festival, and even before having my baby, I would never have had the confidence to suggest flexible working, especially at interview stage. It’s a hugely competitive market we’re in and I would have seen that chat going down like a wet balloon. I now have the confidence to have that discussion.

As for the sessions: ‘The Undateables’ reminded you that fabulously sensitive and heart-warming series are being made. Liz Warner’s company betty have totally got it right in terms of their duty of care to the contributors and commitment that the same team saw the production through from start to finish.

Liz Warner, betty CEO gave the Back to Work Mums tips on Surviving the Edinburgh TV Festival. https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2013/08/5-minutes-with-betty-ceo-liz-warner-on-making-the-most-of-edinburgh-tv-festival/ Pic by Mark Johnson

‘Room 101’ was like watching a live OB. Stuart Murphy put TV snobbery into the room to great applause. The discussion with the Channel controllers about the role of commissioners was insightful and quite damning for most the channels, it was just a shame they didn’t have time for a Q &A, but I guess we might have been there all night.

For any Media Parent who’s currently on a career break, the TV Festival will either remind you of all the things you miss about the industry… the buzz, the fun and the creativity, or it will send you running back into the bosom of your family thinking my life is so much more manageable without all those people and their handheld devices in it… for me it was the former.

Q&A about the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme at GEITF:

1. How did you hear about the scheme?

Through the website, and I’d heard of Media Parents through colleagues.

2. Thoughts before going to Edinburgh…

It was the first time I’d been away from my daughter so that was tough. It was also the first time I was going to be back in Scotland after leaving last year to have my baby so that was exciting. I have been before and was glad to know I was meeting other mums there – there’s definitely safety in numbers!

3. Reax to Liz Warner’s tips on Surviving the Edinburgh TV Festival.

https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2013/08/5-minutes-with-betty-ceo-liz-warner-on-making-the-most-of-edinburgh-tv-festival/ I took on board what she said and used all of her top tips.

4. Meeting the other Media Parents

It was great to meet the other mums. There was an easy, instant bond. I think we were good at boosting each other’s confidence. We defiantly all felt into our stride on the second day. It was also interesting because we are all at very different points in our career and so we all got very different things from the festival.

5. What does Media Parents mean to you?

I’m totally impressed with the work Media Parents are doing and how much they have done already. They seem to have a good profile and most people knew of them. I will defiantly keep using the site and help in any way I can to promote their work in the nations and regions.  I’ll be sending out lots of links to the site. I think you could defo get a stand at the Festival or run some collaborative sessions with the TV companies around the issues of flexible working. I’d go so far as to say it would make an incredible session… I’m sure the issue has been raised before but I’d love to know what the different channels are doing to help parents stay in their careers. It would make a great debate.

6. Connections made…

I did gravitate to a lot of my old Scottish contacts but had some great chats about flexible working and working half of the week from home for them, which was positive. I didn’t meet as many Manchester people as I’d have liked, as the delegates list doesn’t tell you which regions people are from or represent. I had searched the companies I knew and had some good conversations with them too.

7. How has the experience made you feel about TV and working again?

I knew I wanted to work in TV again but was feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the prospect of juggling it with being a new mum. After all the chats I’ve had I no longer feel alone and feel confident enough to raise the issue of flexible working.

Ali McBride: http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6744/ali-mcbride

The next Media Parents event is a CV Surgery at the BBC FastTrain event in Cardiff on November 7th. For networking, jobs and great events please join www.mediaparents.co.uk

I started as a runner at SVC in Wardour Street, then one of best post houses in Soho, writes Danny Davis. On my first day there I was making coffee for George Michael and running out and getting his lunch.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4081/danny-davis

I absolutely loved running and decided I would be the best runner in London! After a year as a runner I was given the opportunity to become a tape-op/assistant editor and that introduced me to the wonderful world of onlining and finishing.

I’ve been onlining for 20 years now and it’s flown by. Grading in Avid Symphony and DaVinci Resolve has become an integral part of my workflow for over 10 years. When I first started, offline as it is now was not the norm. Often a client would come into the online suite with a paper cut or a u-matic with BITC, or with absolutely nothing. This meant a lot of time was spent in the online cutting at online rates. The post houses thought it was Christmas! Those days are long gone but the online/finishing suite is where I started. I enjoy the challenge of onlining and grading programmes of whatever genre and will realise what the client wants on screen, hopefully adding a lot creatively to the project myself.

Danny Davis at work in his suite. Kill that numberplate Danny!

The decision to setup my own suite at home near Camden was pretty much made for me after the rents went up in Soho where I had been for over four years. Not a lot has changed apart from location. The quality of work is the same as is the kit that includes: Avid Symphony 6.5, FCP, DaVinci Resolve and a cracking piece of software called Mocha that will track anything.

I recently onlined and graded a six part series for the Africa Channel (African Masters) at my studio and am just finishing a BBC4 doc for Dartmouth Films to be aired on the 5th of November at 9pm AUTISM: CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR.

I have also been cutting and finishing a corporate job for Ford to celebrate 20 years of the Mondeo. Forward planning and a very good chat with the client has worked marvellously. I get a sequence or project from AVID or FCP, nearly always given to me on a drive. I can grade Log or RAW up to 4K. Clients come round to review and make any changes. When everybody is happy I can either make a high resolution file or arrange for layoff to tape. Molinare are great!

One of the main benefits of freelancing for me is the flexibility. This does not mean dragging myself out of bed mid afternoon and eating biscuits all day. It means I have the chance to talk about an upcoming job to the client and, if need be, do tests on looks and FX, at no charge by the way. The greatest thing though is I can more easily sort out time to have with my beautiful 7 year old daughter.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4081/danny-davis

The next Media Parents event is a CV Surgery at the BBC FastTrain event in Cardiff on November 7th. For networking, jobs and great events please join www.mediaparents.co.uk

70 Media Parents and company members made it to the CV Surgery in October. Top tip #1 from Media Parents Director Amy Walker "Title your CV with your full name and job title, and include this in the subject line of any spec CV emails you send out too."

Title your CV with your full name and job title, and include this in the subject line of any spec CV emails you send out too.

Top tip # 2 from Chloe Samwell-Smith, Production Recruitment Manager, Endemol UK "Keep your CV to two pages. You don't need to go back to where you started, what you did as a researcher is not relevant if you are experienced."

Keep your CV to two pages.

Top tip #3 from Elaine Day, Head of Production at DCD Media (including September Films) "Don't include pictures or logos in your CV - keep the file size small, a bigger file size is likely to be deleted from an inbox."

Don’t include pictures or logos in your CV – keep the file size small.

Top tip #4 from Nicky Searle, Head Of Talent, Dragonfly Film & TV "I like a mission statement paragraph which tells me who you are, what you've done and where you want to go."

A mission statement – who you are, what you’ve done and where you want to go.

Top tip #5 from Yvonne Bainton, Head of Production, Dragonfly "A CV should have clarity - write concise overviews of the shows you have worked on, nobody has watched everything on TV."

A CV should have clarity – write concise overviews of the shows you have worked on.

Top tip #6, Jane Manning, Head of Production, October Films "Don't tailor your CV too much to a particular company - not everything you have done needs to fit, sometimes variety can help you."

Don’t tailor your CV too much to a particular company – not everything you have done needs to fit.

Top tip # 7 from Channel 4's Deborah Lane Winter "If you've had a career break avoid the suggestion that that's a problem in your cover letter or CV - it might not be a problem."

If you’ve had a career break avoid the suggestion that that’s a problem in your cover letter or CV – be confident.

Shift 4's MD Alex Thompson made everyone feel welcome.

Amy Swan moved from Series Producing to Marketing & Business Development for Shift 4 after she had her two children.

Media Parents events are a great way to network whilst having a good laugh. Please have a look at www.mediaparents.co.uk for more details.

Media Parents is run by experienced freelancers for experienced freelancers. You don't need to be a parent, you just need 3 or more years TV experience. Cheers!

If you can't make your childcare work for Media Parents events, let us know.

Huge thanks to Hannah Smiles for taking the photos:

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/collaborator/2706/hannah-smiles

The next Media Parents event is a CV Surgery at the BBC FastTrain event in Cardiff on November 7th. For networking, jobs and great events please join www.mediaparents.co.uk

Thanks so much to everyone who is coming along to the Media Parents CV Surgery on October 1st, and to ENVY for hosting and Shift 4 for sponsoring. Here’s who will be joining us to talk CVs and selling yourself on paper:

Chloe Samwell-Smith

Chloe Samwell-Smith
Production Recruitment Manager, Endemol UK

Chloe Samwell-Smith has been with Endemol for almost 14 years in the HR department, recruiting and nurturing talent, and looking after HR needs of productions and permanent staff.

deborah lane winter

Deborah Lane Winter
Open4 Channels Specialist, Channel 4

Deborah runs Open 4,  a new online learning platform that’s available to everyone. Open 4 is part of Open Channels (an innovative collaboration between Channel 4 and the BBC) and is supported by Creative Skillset.

priscilla baffour

Priscilla Baffour
Industry Talent Specialist, Channel 4

Priscilla looks after 4Talent which works across the country nurturing and developing new talent.

Elaine Day
Director of Production, DCD Media

Elaine Day

Elaine was appointed as DCD Media’s Director of Production in January 2012 to oversee the production output of September Films, Prospect Pictures, Prospect Cymru and Rize USA.

Prior to that Elaine was Director of Production for September Films, where she supervised September’s entertainment, factual and drama slate including PENN & TELLER: FOOL US, RICHARD HAMMOND’S BLAST LAB, PREGNANT MAN, BRIDEZILLAS, HOUSE OF AMERICA and BREATHTAKING. Elaine began her career at the BBC, where her diverse credits range from MASTERMIND and NEWSNIGHT to BLEAK HOUSE and A PERFECT SPY. As a freelance Script Supervisor, Elaine worked on feature films and television dramas, including BUSTER and BEHAVING BADLY.

Jane Manning

Jane Manning
Head of Production, October Films

With 25 years experience in TV production, Jane has overseen over 200 hours of content covering current affairs, documentary, factual entertainment and live events for worldwide broadcasters, and for corporate clients.

Jane is a member of the October board and, as Head of Production, is integral to the company’s creative, strategic and commercial planning. She manages programme output and together with the Managing Director is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company.  She is also in charge of personnel, and takes particular interest in mentoring and growing talent within the company. Jane is a Mentor on the CDN Senior Mentoring Scheme and is a judge of television industry awards, most recently the Broadcast and Grierson Awards.

Nicky Searle

Nicky Searle
Head Of Talent, Dragonfly Film & TV

Nicky Searle has been Head of Talent at Dragonfly since May 2013.   After a production career in music, entertainment and event television, spending most of her time interviewing bands and working with key presenters she moved across to talent management in 2007.  Most recently she set up the talent department at NBCUniversal International, and prior to that oversaw all production recruitment at Optomen.  In six years of talent management she has worked across a variety of genres, from specialist factual to constructed reality.

Yvonne Bainton

Yvonne Bainton
Head of Production, Dragonfly

Yvonne joined Dragonfly in June 2013 as interim Head of Production. Prior to joining Yvonne had been working as a Line Producer/Production Manager on some of the biggest shows in factual television – most recently series 3 of 24hours in A&E (C4) at The Garden Productions and prior to that she spent two years working on The Apprentice at Boundless Productions. Previously Yvonne was resident Line Producer at Windfall Films for 8 years where she helped bring complex and challenging projects to the screen including the BAFTA winning gargantuan series Inside Nature’s Giants (C4/NG) and their two innovative reality dramas Born with Two Mothers (C4)and Richard is my Boyfriend (C4).

Amy Walker

Amy Walker
Director, Media Parents

Amy runs Media Parents in addition to working as a factual series producer. She will greet everyone at Tuesday’s CV Event and ensure it runs smoothly. Profile links for talent attending will be sent to each of the talent managers in advance, and timed appointments will take place on a first come, first served basis on the night. Currently making a new series with Bear Grylls, Amy has probably seen a million different TV CVs since her first job in TV as Peter Bazalgette’s PA and she has recently written a piece for The Guardian which contains some CV advice for returners to the workplace: http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/sep/20/confidence-trap-beat-back-to-work-blues

The Shift 4 team who are sponsoring the event : From L to R, Alex Trezies (MD), Amy Swan (Marketing and Business Development), Alex Thompson (MD)

With thanks to ENVY post production for hosting the event.

The next Media Parents event is our CV Surgery on October 1st. For networking, jobs and great events please join www.mediaparents.co.uk

Shift 4 has sponsored Media Parents CV Surgery on October 1st. Here Amy Swan, who heads up Shift 4’s Marketing and New Business, explains why…

The Shift 4 Team: From L to R, Alex Trezies (MD), Amy Swan (Marketing and Business Development), Alex Thompson (MD)

Your CV is your first chance to make a good impression on a potential employer. It should speak loudly of your skills, experience and value and all in a few seconds because, in the fast moving world of production, that’s probably all the time a CV will get. Making your CV the best it possibly could be will make all the difference in getting you the work you want.

That’s why Shift 4 are really pleased to be sponsoring Media Parents’ CV Surgery event, to help freelancers give their CVs style as well as substance and to connect them with production companies for advice, guidance and networking. The event will be attended by employers from Channel 4, Dragonfly Film & TV, Endemol, September Films, October Films and DCD Media. Earlier this year Shift 4 underwent a total makeover, with all new branding including a new logo and a new website. The process of creating and rolling this out has proved to us how important it is to stand out in an ever competitive market. Presenting yourself well, whether you’re a company or an individual, is key to your success. Shift 4 are now reaping the benefits.

Shift 4 has been supplying and supporting broadcast production for over 20 years, pulling out every stop to help clients get the job done. As you’d expect, our range of camera, sound, lighting and grip equipment is extensive and we pride ourselves on its quality and maintenance. But what sets us apart is the way we work alongside our clients as one of the production team. Providing advice, demos, training and 24/7 back-up in addition to kit supply and crewing, our slick but friendly and flexible ‘extra mile’ approach makes our service priceless.

www.shift-4.com

Amy Swan with her daughters Frances and Ruby.

Amy Swan worked as a freelance Series Producer and, after having two children 18 months apart, switched to facilities hire, joining Shift 4 in October 2012.

To reserve a place at the Media Parents CV Surgery on October 1st you must be a subscriber to Media Parents. Details of the event are on the watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk

The next Media Parents event is our CV Surgery on October 1st. For networking, jobs and great events please join www.mediaparents.co.uk

On the plane to Edinburgh all I could think was the same thought over and over again, writes Harriet Wallace, two whole days without children, two whole days without children, TWO WHOLE DAYS WITHOUT CHILDREN! I know this really wouldn’t be a big deal to many people, but to me (someone who hasn’t spent one night away from their children in the last 5 and a half years), this was a very big deal. Two days of uninterrupted adult conversation, two days of clean, snot-free clothes and most excitingly two whole nights of sleep.

Harriet Wallace with her two boys. Harriet is in the TALENT section of Media Parnents. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/24/harriet-talley-nee-wallace

Now, I don’t want you to start thinking that I just applied for the Media Parents back to work scheme to get away from my children – although as the school holidays draw to an exhausting end, this seems a pretty valid reason to me. I applied because there was what can only be described as, a creative ‘hole’ in me. Emotionally I am fulfilled, financially we just about scrape through but creatively, there is definitely something lacking. I miss the buzz, the banter and most of all the funny, intelligent people who make the weird and wonderful world of telly go round. By the time I had left the Edinburgh TV Festival, I felt like that hole could be filled (Oh god not sure this analogy is working now!), and my excitement for returning to the land of telly had been well and truly ignited.

I would love to say that I arrived in Edinburgh bristling with confidence and raring to go. The reality is, I was terrified. It was like my first day at school, times a thousand.  What do I wear? Where do I go? Will I recognise anyone? And if I do, will they recognise me? I have been out of TV for ten years, and all of a sudden ten years felt like a very, very long time. Luckily for me, I had three other women to walk through the school gates with, feeling exactly the same emotions – Sidra, Ali and Kirsty. This is one of the real benefits of Media Parents – the support, the network, and the solidarity you get from it – you’re in it together. These three women, who I can genuinely say will be friends for life, were three of the funniest, most creative people I have ever met.  With a TV credit list between them that would make any programme controller salivate: Faking It; Location, Location, Location and The Comedy Lab, to name but a few – they had no reason to feel nervous, but they did. We all did. The Festival started, we all held our breath and jumped in.

Harriet Wallace, Ali McBride, Kirsty Smith and Sidra Khan, media parents delegates waiting for Kevin Spacey's MacTaggart Speech at GEITF.

The Meet the Controller sessions gave me an insight into the personality and tastes of the people in charge of the major channels. From Janice Hadlow’s controlled, erudite eloquence ‘It’s not all about the ratings… I’m looking for original, distinctive, surprising shows…I want strong flavours, even if they’re divisive’ to Ben Frow’s refreshing, if not occasionally brutal, attitude ‘We’re not a niche channel. Ratings do count for us. Money does count for us… For me, the title is everything.’ One of the most inspirational sessions I attended was the ‘The Ones to Watch – Live Pitch’ where seven incredibly brave young people had just 1 minute 30 to pitch their short film to C4’s Random Acts commissioner Tabitha Jackson. I also enjoyed the ‘Online and Social Media’ session, which brought me up to speed on the latest multi-media developments and the various platforms that television is now working across.

And it wasn’t just information I got from the festival I also got a huge amount of laughs. ‘The worst TV I Have Ever Made and All It Taught Me’ was just brilliant and had me literally crying with laughter. Highlights included: ‘Beat The Crusher with Freddie Star’ and ‘There’s something about Miriam’ (“Unbeknownst to you, you’ve just dry humped a man, how do you feel?”). And to finish it all off Dara O’Briain’s hilarious compering of the Television Awards was the perfect antidote to maybe just one too many TVisms (Marmite anyone?).  All in all, it was a memorable few days. Oh, and you know what, lots of people did recognise me and by the end, whilst I still felt a little bit awkward and a little bit, well, ‘mumsy’ I did feel like I could do this telly thing again.

Easing herself back into the workplace with a glass of wine, Harriet Wallace talks to RDF's Angela Oakhill at the Media Parents networking in Bristol. Harriet is a producer who has not worked in TV for 10 years since pursuing other projects and having two children.

From all that I saw during the two days, one thing became very clear to me.  Over the last ten years, nothing has really changed. When it comes to making good TV, It’s still all about the story. The audience may have changed how and when they want to watch that story, but as for the content, they still want the same things: to be moved, surprised, challenged, excited, informed and above all entertained.

On the plane back from Edinburgh I didn’t have just one thought in my head, I had a hundred. New TV ideas bounced around with thoughts of YouTube and Netflix all to the throbbing beat of my hangover (so much for the deep peaceful sleep!). But the overriding thought, the one that kept pushing itself to the surface above all the others – I cant wait to see my children and tell them all about the Festival. Were they interested? Of course they weren’t. All they wanted to know was had I got any free stuff, and did that include any chocolate? Luckily I had, and it did.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/24/harriet-talley-nee-wallace

The next Media Parents event is our Great CV Tear Up on October 1st. For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

You might remember reading Media Parents Talent Ana Garcia’s blog about selling her worldly goods to fund her film… Ana wrote “Gibraltar has been sold to broadcasters in Finland, Australia and Spain and when I finally get Richard Klein to watch it … I live in hope.” Ana’s belief paid off, watch it he did,  and Ana’s film TXes tonight on BBC4 at 10pm.

In January this year I wrote a little piece about an independent feature documentary that I made, Gibraltar, writes Ana Garcia. It was a real labour of love, took me almost 3 years to make on next to nothing and was near impossible to get distributed and / or seen. It was a steep learning curve. After a couple of years of much head banging on an array of brick walls and wondering what I had spent all that time and hard work on, I’m thrilled to say a cut down broadcast version of the film, Gibraltar: My Rock, will be broadcast this coming Wed 4^th Sep on BBC4 at 10pm. It’s a massive relief to see something I worked so hard at get an audience and I hope everyone will tune in!

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1406/ana-garcia

Ana Garcia

For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

Media Parents' Kerry Jones with Paul Young.

Kerry Jones (nee Scourfield) has recently joined the Media Parents team, covering jobs and talent in the North & Scotland. After working as a Style Director at TONI&GUY, Kerry moved into TV as a Hairdresser and Makeup Artist. She worked on a variety of factual programmes from Watercolour Challenge to The Big Breakfast. Kerry moved into feature films and worked with Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh on Vera Drake, and a variety of British directors on quality period features.

Kerry left TV and London to bring up her two girls in Liverpool, but is now looking forward to working flexibly in yet another different area. She is excited to be helping parents to juggle the logistics of childcare and parenting with TV.

Radica Anikpe writes about the National Film & TV Short Course in First Aid.

I spent a Friday in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. What I was I doing in the Home Counties? The eagle-eyed among you will have already made the connection between Beaconsfield and the National Film and Television School. I won a Media Parents sponsored place on the First Aid for Film and Television.

Radica Anikpe on the National Film & Television School short first aid course. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4077/radica-anikpe

Call me peculiar, but I’ve long had a yen to do a first aid course, so winning the place made this job-seeker super happy. Essentially, myself and five other meeja lovelies, as well as our cool-as-expletive-deleted trainer, Vicki Clare, spent the day discussing the various ways that people on film and television sets get themselves into bother, and what the appropriate first aid response is. It would not be unwise to suppose that fear of the budget can be the reason accidents happen. And we have all, I think, had that fear, especially in this 21^st century era of the disappearing budget line(s).

So. Just in case you miss it, the moral of this part of the story is: if you are doing something, and you think, “Ooh, I’ll just”. Just don’t. “I’ll just pick up this load of wire cable without any safety gloves”. Result? Sliced fingers. Two re-attached, one didn’t. “I’ll just quickly dig this trench in my flip-flops”. Result? Two prongs of a gardening fork embedded in a foot. “I’ll just cut through this live cable in my non- rubber soled trainers, with only my mate and a wooden broom for company”. Result? A below-the-knee amputation and lives forever changed.

Radica assuming the recovery position at the NTSC First Aid Course. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4077/radica-anikpe

We also talked about the particular horror of watching an accident or incident unfold. Stick your hand up if you were watching the football when Fabrice Muamba hit the deck? Thousands of people willing, wishing and hoping that whatever it was that felled the fit, young footballer, could be quickly cured. I remember watching an interview with cardiologist, Andrew Deaner, who sprinted on to the pitch to assist, after watching CPR being given and discussing with his brother. If an actual, eminent doctor needs permission, it is hardly surprising that it feels like an impossible task for most of the rest of us.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, the psychology of crowds? Haven’t we all watched at the scene of an accident, open-mouthed with horror, willing someone competent along? “Well”, says Vicki – with an illusion-shattering smile on her face – “Something is better than nothing. Imagine if your actions enabled someone’s loved ones the opportunity of getting to hospital, in order to say goodbye. That has to be worth whatever personal price paid, hasn’t it?”

The upshot of my day in the shires is this. If you were to have a stroke, or if you were to choke in front of me (and you gave me permission – I am serious. If you ask a choking victim if you can help them, and they say no, you can’t touch them because you are actually asking for permission to assault them. Happily, once they are unconscious, implied consent kicks in and you may save their life.) I would have an idea of what to do. That’s better than calling for an ambulance with fingers crossed.

And in the unhappy event of you having a heart attack in front of me, I can now use a defibrillator. I am indecently excited about this fact, but I am a swot by nature, the accumulation of information is the reason that I get outta bed of a morning. Obviously, we’d both rather that didn’t happen. But if it does, I got your back. And if you find yourself on a shoot, beyond tired and inching toward the finish line and think, “Oh, I’ll just”. Just don’t. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, “What is my life worth? Is it worth the risk?” Is it?

Radica Anikpe is currently looking for research or writing work as she is returning to TV after caring leave. She is also looking for sponsorship for a course so please make contact with her here : http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4077/radica-anikpe

TOP HEALTH & SAFETY TIP: Whether or not you are first aid trained, if you need to help someone with a defibrillator, there will always be a defibrillator and trained first aider in your nearest tube station.

For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

For more information on Short Courses at NFTS :

http://nfts.co.uk/our-courses/short-courses